FAQs

How do I select an advisor?

There are plenty of great advisors out there. It starts with knowing what you want. Are you looking for partners with expertise, investors, an outside eye to analyze the business? Are you open to new ideas? Do people describe you as a control freak? Matching personality to the advisor is important and you'll get that in the first meeting. Here's a few steps:

Make sure the advisor is not conflicted by doing business with a competitor. Good advisors have too much to risk to get a bad reputation from leaking secrets, but you should still protect your business.

Require the advisor to sign a non-disclosure agreement if you want to talk beyond the first meeting.

After a non-disclosure agreement has been signed, go in with an open kimono. The only way advisors can help is if they understand the issues.

Have a conversation about what a realistic outcome can be and the timeline for that to happen. Discuss the assets required (people, capital, time). If this fits with your plan, ask for a proposal. Beware of consultants who give you a template proposal before they understand your business. That's the biggest warning sign.

It sounds expensive. How do we pay for an advisor given our situation?

This is a real life problem! The old chicken and egg situation. You have confidence the advisor can help, but can't pay for the service. We run into this all the time. The bottom line is some sacrifices have to be made, particularly when a positive outcome may be six months away. We like to say advisors and employees must pay for themselves. Some advisors may be willing to structure fees in a way that are less front-end loaded and have some success fee element to them. It's critical that interests be aligned for engagements like this to be successful.

How do I ensure success once the advisor has been hired?

The number one factor that will determine success is your level of engagement and to get buy-in from others who may feel threatened. Are you prepared to answer a ton of questions? Will you tire of the process when there are other pressing business issues to deal with? Setting intermediate goals is important to reaching the end zone. If you can break the engagement into digestible steps, you'll find greater satisfaction that you are making progress, which helps ease some of the inevitable frustrations that come with a process like this.